2012 NBA Finals: LeBron Beats Cramps, Heat Beat Thunder.

The 2012 NBA Finals have been wonderfully entertaining. We’ve been treated to four of the best 15 players on Earth flying up and down the floor, making plays every night and the fans have responded by tuning in to watch in record numbers.

It’s also been a close series. While it’s true that the Heat won on Tuesday night to go up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Thunder could have already won the series, been up 3-1 or definitely tied 2-2.

The difference so far has been LeBron James’ dominance on the game’s biggest stage.

If you have cable or frequent the internet, you’ve probably heard something about James’ life in some way, shape or form since The Decision in 2010. Truth be told, it was one of the most short-sighted ideas in NBA history and that was before the fallout and scrutiny that has followed James every day of his life since he signed with the Miami Heat.

The Heat took on all comers, peaked at the right time and won the Eastern Conference in 2011 before coming up short against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Unless you were a Miami Heat fan, you probably enjoyed that outcome almost as much as you would have had your own team won.

You would think after an extended lockout and shortened regular season, some of that angst would have died down. No way. If anything, it intensified this year and the Heat have responded.

They beat the New York Knicks in five games, even though a lot of “experts” had them marked as a potential upset victim.

Then they took down a game Indiana Pacers in six games, with Chris Boss missing all but one half of the whole series. The Pacers may not be a big-market team but they were pretty good this year, good enough to take a 2-1 lead over the Heat, and will probably be better next year.

People took the fact that the Boston Celtics took them to a game 7 as a sign of weakness when in reality Miami winning a series against a proud, veteran-laden squad of champions like the Celtics is something to hang your hat on. Sure, they’re old and beaten up and they may not be as good as they were at one time, but they still know how to play basketball and are led by a great coach in Doc Rivers. Beating the Boston Celtics is always a big deal and if it happens in the playoffs? Even better.

So far it’s been the Thunder’s turn in the Finals. Every time the Thunder have punched, Miami has counter-punched. Every run Oklahoma City has went on has been answered by Miami. The Thunder won game 1 at home, so the Heat stole game 2 and handed the Thunder their first home loss in the entire playoffs. It’s just been one of those series for the Thunder.

All that said, it’s not over. Not by a long shot.

No team has ever blown a 3-1 Finals lead, but would it be out of the realm of possibility for the Thunder to hold the fort, win game 5 and head home to Oklahoma City with some momentum? If they can do the same in game 6, that puts all the pressure back onto the Heat for a game 7. Would anyone be surprised if the Thunder have one last three game winning streak in them to end the season? You shouldn’t be and if you would be, then shame on you.

Game 4 was a battle of the wills with James at the forefront again. LeBron finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 26 points and 12 assists to go with his 9 rebounds and his usual world-class defense on whoever he happened to be guarding at the time.

James did leave the game in the 4th quarter with leg cramps, but returned in enough time to hit a three-pointer that would give Miami the lead for good. After the game, James said he would be good to go for game 5.

James didn’t go it alone though as Dwyane Wade had 25 points of his own on what was another subpar shooting night, shooting just 8-19 from the field. Still, he kept the Heat together when James left the floor and provided another good defensive effort on James Harden, the Thunder’s usually-efficient bench scorer.

Mario Chalmers had the game of his life as he also had 25 points and the Heat needed all of them.

For the Thunder, Kevin Durant played 46 minutes and scored 28 points and avoided any serious foul trouble for the first time in Miami and Russell Westbrook poured in 43 huge points, but the Thunder couldn’t get Harden going for the third time in four games and blew yet another big second-half lead.

Miami is one win away from clinching the night that they envisioned when they teamed up James, Wade and Bosh in 2010. Oklahoma City is one loss away from seeing another season end with them taking one more step forward, but coming up short of that elusive championship.

On the other side, Miami is one loss away from facing a return trip to Oklahoma City and that bananas crowd that they have there and still having to win a game to close the series out. The Thunder are one win away from momentum and two more must-win games, but having the ability to host those games. You never want to face three straight elimination games, but if you had to do it, wouldn’t you want it to be at home? Probably so.

If we learned anything in these playoffs, it’s that the Miami Heat have finally added “tough enough” to their growing list of traits. You can’t win in the NBA by simply being talented, you have to have something else too. When James hit that g0-ahead three-pointer in the 4th quarter with those cramping legs, we learned that Miami is a team with substance instead of just three big names.